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Thomas Wedgwood is best known as a pioneer of photography. He attended Edinburgh University from 1787 to 1789, but was forced to leave due to persistent ill health. Prevented from working in his father's potteries by constant headaches, he conducted a series of scientific experiments, presenting two papers to the Royal Society in 1791 and 1792 on the equal temperature of red-hot objects. In 1802, he presented a paper on his discovery of a method of copying objects by exposing paper soaked in silver nitrate to the sun. When the objects were removed, their silhouettes would appear on those parts of the paper which had not been exposed to the light. However, he could not find a means to fix his pictures (known as photograms), which prevented his method from becoming popular. Nevertheless, his photograms, if kept in the dark, would last easily for 60 years or more.
Title
Memorial to Thomas Wedgwood (1771–1805)
Date
1953
Medium
basalt
Measurements
H 75 x W 75 x D (?) cm
Accession number
ST1_IB_S004
Acquisition method
commissioned by the Society of Staffordshire Photographers
Work type
Medallion
Owner
Stoke on Trent City Council
Custodian
Stoke on Trent City Council
Work status
extant
Access
at all times
Signature/marks description
on base of relief: Eric Owen 1953 / WEDGWOOD / BARLASTON
Inscription description
above head: THOMAS WEDGWOOD 1771-1805; below head: PIONEER OF PHOTOGRAPHY; on small bronze plaque underneath medallion: THIS PLAQUE ERECTED / BY THE SOCIETY OF / STAFFORDSHIRE PHOTOGRAPHERS / TO COMMEMORATE THE WORK OF / THOMAS WEDGWOOD / OF ETRURIA HALL / PIONEER OF PHOTOGRAPHY / UNVEILED 11TH JUNE 1953 / BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE / ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY
